New issue of OXM - Metal Gear Solid 5, free gift and more

The Phantom Pain finally became that bit more tangible this month, as editor Matthew was black-bagged, whisked to a covert location (probably America) and given precisely two days to play as much as he could of Kojimas new and quite probably last Metal Gear game. After a shower and a debriefing (those things arent connected, gross), he wrote ten pages of thoughts about what looks to be something very special.

In the increasingly crowded world of eSports, even CoD needs to do something new to stand out. With defined characters and a new take on the series iconic shoot your friends mode, Black Ops III is making some of the most sweeping changes to the series in years. Having played it, were starting to agree that Treyarchs latest could shake up the multiplayer world, both professional and amateur.

Whether you liked it or not, theres no doubting that the last AC was a bit of a low-point in public perception of Ubisofts signature series. The new game tries to tackle that head-on, with a new London location, new gadgets, a pair of twins to play as, and the ability to run people over with a horse-and-carriage, fulfilling all our warped, Dickensian dreams. Having seen the game in action, weve got the lowdown on how Ubisoft is trying to unite its fans after Unity.

The Xbox One just got a 30 price cut, making it as affordable as its ever been but any sensible person would have rigorously budgeted and set aside that extra cost. In this mini-feature, we look at the most cost-effective ways to spend that surplus, from buying only digital subscriptions, free-to-play games, used, digital and more. Also, Matthew insults his staff, which is nothing new, I guess.